Demolition at the Safeway grocery store at 2800 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. began quietly Thursday with the removal of the store's massive sign.

The 33,000-square-foot building, which has a parking lot facing Hawthorne, will be replaced by a 54,000-square-foot structure that will reach to the sidewalk. The new store will feature underground parking. The store, which opened at the site in 1963, will be bigger than the Safeway at Southeast Cesar E. Chavez and Powell boulevards.